Does anyone know about power failure alert/alarms?
Asked by
ccrow (
8097
)
January 6th, 2014
I need a power failure alert; I’ve seen lights like this but since it says it comes on automatically when the power goes off, I’m guessing it probably turns off automatically when power comes back on. I need something that must be manually reset, so I will know if the power has been off at all, however briefly. We are on the end of a line, and we frequently get ‘hiccups’ where the power is interrupted for just a few seconds. But my husband’s shop has a propane heater system that shuts off if the power goes out. Then it must be manually reset. When he’s away, I have no reason to go in there, so I don’t notice if his heat is off, and he has an alarm that I would just as soon not have to mess with every day, just going in to check that the heat is on. Does anybody know if there is some kind of power failure alert, whether it’s a light or sound type doesn’t really matter, that doesn’t stop the alert once it has power again?
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11 Answers
There are plenty of them commercially available. Just go on amazon and order one.
Check out this thread. It resulted in me buying this. I love it. Not sure if this is something that would work for you.
@ARE_you_kidding_me I was looking on Amazon, but they don’t have the information I need, namely whether or not it resets itself when the power comes back on.
@tom_g I didn’t want to spend that much, but something like that would certainly work. BTW, did you realize your first link goes to this question?
Older microwaves do that. When the power hiccups the clock is reset to 12:00, so it’s obvious (when you compare its time display to any non-interrupted clock) that the power has been out.
I think digital AC alarm clocks (as long as you DO NOT install a battery backup) will do the same thing.
@CWOTUS my old microwave that would brag about itself if the power hiccuped(“Sharp- simply the best”) finally died, and the new one, along with my oven’s digital clock, has a short-term memory; so they don’t reset unless the power is out for a little longer. The alarm clock is a good idea, though!
If you have any sort of computer that can serve up a webpage in the building you could just do a static page accessible to the internet and use Pingdom to send you a email or text if the site goes down. It is free and checks every minute.
Buy an old clock radio for $3.00 at GoodWill Take ouat the backup battery (it is probably already missing) and set the clock. If the power goes out the clock turn off. When it comes back on it will reset to 12:00 and start blinking. That will tell you the power went off and how long ago it went back on.
Sometimes a simple and cheap solution is the best.
I see that @CWOTUS beat me to it.
My guess is that the propane heater system does not use much electrical power at all, probably just for flame ignition and thermostat/control.
How about putting an uninterruptible power supply(UPS) on that so that it will remain operational when the power goes down for a few seconds? This would probably be way more than enough.
^ @dabbler had the best idea yet. But it will cost more than $3.00.
@dabbler I don’t know, but I think the heater is hard-wired… but my husband has worked as an electrician so if there’s a way to rig something up, he’ll be able to do it. For the immediate future, I think the alarm clock is the best bet… and I even have one already so it’s free!! Just have to dig it out and plug it in!
@johnpowell No computer in the shop:-)
@ccrow Like dating, free and available is always the best solution. ;-)
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